Destiny Of Fire (far side) gets her nose ahead of Ladyofdistinction as they drive in perfect synchrony for the line (Candiese Lenferna Photography)

Ebrahim Khan had to wait just a couple of days to get some justification for his big spending at the BSA August Two-year-old sale last week as the Mike de Kock-trained Master Of My Fate filly Destiny Of Fire made an impressive winning debut at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday in a 1200m maiden for three-year-old fillies.

Mikdedekockracing.com described the race:

It’s never easy to make up ground in a sprint, especially so after an awkward start on debut.

Newcomer Destiny Of Fire was inexperienced out of the gates in Race 1 over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday – she came out with what looked like half a flyjump and lost a length or two on her rivals in  a race with pace all around her. But jockey Serino Moodley handled her calmly and with patience. She raced up to the hindquarters of the back markers, found her running rhythm and settled sensibly. 

Destiny Of Fire was still last with 500m to go, but, switched into the open she quickened nicely and put herself well into the race with 300m to run. There was a stampede of runners racing into the closing stages, but she finished best and got her nose in front right on the line.

Destiny Of Fire races in partnership for Mike de Kock and Chris Haynes. She was bred by the late Lady Chrys O’Reilly by Master of Fate out of Festival Of Fire, who won the 2012 G3 Joburg Spring Challenge and finished second in the G1 Empress Club Stakes.

“This is a nice filly, she’s going to win her share of races,” said Mike.

Ebrahim Khan purchased a Hawwaam half-brother to Destiny Of Fire for R1 million last Thursday at the BSA August Two-year-old Sale.

She was one of three seven figure lots he purchased on the day and he bought eight horses in all to be the top buyer on Day One of the Sale with an aggregate of R4,480,000 and an average of R560,000.

Khan was one of the biggest owners in the country in the first few years of the millennium and owned such horses as Elusive Fort, who won both the 2006 G1 Derby and Gr 1 Daily News 2000, Saddlewood, who won the 2005 G2 Gold Bowl and G3 Gold Vase, and top-level sprinter Safe Structure, who won the G3 Tommy Hotspur.

S’Manga Khumalo scores on the Tienie Prinsloo-trained Rakesh Singh-owned Rugger Lover (What A Winter), the top jockey’s sixth winner over the weekend (Candiese Lenferna Photography)

S’Manga Khumalo had six winners over the weekend, including a double for Johan Janse van Vuuren, who is seemingly without a first call jockey at present after his partnership with Gavin Lerena recently appeared to have come to an abrupt end.

However, Khumalo’s agent Monty Mariemuthoo said, “We are not the stable rider for the Johan Janse van Vuuren yard , but we will be getting some chances there. It could be short term, so we will be taking it a day at a time.”

Khumalo rode a four-timer at Turffontein Inside on Saturday with the other two wins being for Fabian Habib and Mike and Adam Azzie.

Then at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday he rode a double, the wins being for Yogas Govender and Tiene Prinsloo respectively.

That took him to 15 wins for the season, just six off the pace being set on the national log by Sean Veale.

As he is associated with the burgeoning Kelly Mitchley yard in the East Cape, some might have been prompted to take a look at S’Manga’s odds for the national jockeys championship.

He is currently a 17/1 shot with Hollywoodbets to take the title.

However, Marimuthoo said, “We don’t have any thoughts about chasing the championship.”

Global View filly Qondanekukhanyeni gives the Hollywood Syndicate a quick double at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday, both trained by Garth Puller and ridden by Ahandiwe Mgudlwa. (Candiese Lenferna Photography)

Hollywood Syndicate have started this season with a bang and have already had 15 wins.

Their record return for one month was 18 in September 2022 and other good months have been 17 in November 2022 and 15 in January 2024.

There are unfortunately no more KZN meetings this month and the Hollywoodbets Durbanville meeting scheduled for Wednesday this week has been switched to Saturday, with the Saturday meeting scheduled for Hollywoodbets Kenilworth being switched to Durbanville next Tuesday.

So that leaves just five meetings for the remainder of the month and the Hollywood Syndicate have confirmed runners in just three of them.

They have six confirmed runners before month end:

The Gavin Smith-trained Flower Alley gelding Syx Hotfix had a tough task on his East Cape debut in a Pinnacle event and in race 5 on Tuesday on the Fairview poly he is out at the weights again in a Pinnacle event over 1900m, but not badly, and is in with a chance if rediscovering his best KZN form.

In race 3 in the Faiview Friday turf meeting the Gavin Smith-trained Erupt gelding Iguguletha won second time out in the East Cape after relocating from Cape Town and as merit ratings are often suppressed in the latter centre due to its strength he might be able to follow up in a Novice Plate over 1200m, despite officially being 2.5kg under sufferance with the best weighted male and 4kg under sufferance with the best weight female.

In race 6 in the Fairview turf Friday meeting , the Alan Greeff-trained Dynasty gelding Final Edition will have to bounce back from two below par runs, having previously been a hard knocker.

In race 8 over 1400m at the Fairview Friday meeting the Alan Greeff-trained five-year-old Pomodoro gelding Meetatthewindsor comes off a good win over 1600m on the poly and went close the last time he raced on the turf over 1600m. However, he is now four points higher than that last turf close up fnish and has a wide draw over a trip on the sharp side.

In the Hollywoodbets Durbanville meeting on Saturday, the Lunga Gila-trained Gold Standard filly Voorsmaakie will need to show more than she has done. She runs in a maiden plate and the 1250m trip will also likely be too sharp.

In race 9 in that meeting over 1000m the Brett Crawford-trained Canford Cliffs four-year-old King Of Spin has his third run after a layoff and gelding and might be interesting over this shorter trip, but he has a wide draw and needs to bounce back to form.

The Hollywood Syndicate’s only other possible chance in the month will come from the hard-knocking Clinton Binda-trained Black Egret (Rafeef), who is entered in the Spring Spree Stakes over 1200m at Turffontein Inside on Saturday, but he has landed a wide draw of 18 out of 22 entries so it remains to be seen whether he will accept.

The chances of getting three wins from those seven runners is a tough ask but nevertheless it is a good start to the season and bodes well for their chances of reaching or breaking their record of 124 wins in a season set in the 2022/2023 season.

Bourbon Warrior winning on Sunday under S’Manga Khumalo after being backed in to 9/4 (Candiese Lenferna Photography)

Cape Breeders

Ridgemont’s G1 winning stallion Potala Palace enjoyed a good season last season thanks to his G2 Riding High Together Gold Bracelet winning daughter Red Palace.

The latter also won the Listed Stormsvlei Stakes and ran second in the G1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas last season.

A son of Singspiel, Potala Palace looks to have another promising sort to his name in the form of Bourbon Warrior.

The latter made it two wins, from just three starts, when winning at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday afternoon.

Trained by Yogas Govender, three-year-old Bourbon Warrior had won impressively on debut last season before contesting the G2@Worldpool Twitter Umkhomazi Stakes next time out.

Bourbon Warrior made a smart seasonal debut when he beat older rival Gorgeous Guy by half a length to win Sunday’s Open A Tabgold Account -031 314 1874 Conditional Graduation over 1200 metres.

Bred by Normandy Stud, Bourbon Warrior is out of the Windrush mare Azarenka and is thus bred on the same Potala Palace/Windrush cross as multiple graded stakes winner Katak.

Dr Marianne Thomson is still very active at 84 (Picture Supplied)

Dr Marianne Thomson of Ambiance Stud was the breeder of last season’s highest earning horse, the Nathan Kotzen-trained dual Gr 1 winner Royal Victory, and has been a trailblazer in South African breeding. Though she shuns the spotlight and might not embrace the title, she is undeniably one of the elder stateswomen of the industry, and her long and vibrant career serves as an inspiring example for others to follow.

Charl Pretorius wrote about her in his latest Off The Record column.

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT THE COLOURFUL DR MARIANNE THOMSON

Jack Milner (Tab4Racing)

Champion Jockey Richard Fourie returns to the Polytrack at Fairview on Tuesaday following a well-deserved holiday.

It was a remarkable effort by Fourie who worked like a trojan the entire season, travelling relentlessly around the country to eventually break the previous South African record of 334 winners in a season.

Coming away with a remarkable 378 victories, Fourie has set the bar very high for the chasing pack, but he could well continue where he left off at this meeting on the Polytrack as he has a wonderful card of rides.

In fact, he can get out of the blocks in Race 1 where he rides Vintage Crystal for Kelly Mitchley in this Maiden Plate for fillies and mares over 1600m.

This four-year-old daughter of Gold Standard has had many chances, but Mitchley has found the right race for her and with Fourie up she looks very hard to beat.

Of course, Fourie also has a number of rides for Eastern Cape Champion Trainer Alan Greeff. The pair were almost unstoppable last season and Greeff has already been in relentless form in the first few weeks of the season, notching up 13 winners already.

Fourie and Greeff team up with five runners at this meeting and all of them have winning chances.

There are, however, three runners that could be the pick for them and they are Global Ally in Race 5, Puerto Plata in Race 6 and Can’t Say No in Race 7.

Global Ally was making little progress in the Western Cape having won four times from 21 starts but immediately made an impact at Fairview, winning on the Polytrack.

The gelding turned that course debut win into a hat-trick with some dominant victories and a couple of starts later a fourth win under Greeff’s care took place in March.

Since then, Global Ally has found it tough to take on the better horses in the province. However, he races in a Pinnacle Plate over 1900m on the Polytrack this time around and is well weighted.

What is really worth noting is that Fourie was aboard the now six-year-old for all four of those wins and in total he has only ridden him five times.

The recently inducted champion has not ridden Global Ally in his last four starts.

The obvious danger and the runner actually weighted to win is Zatara Magic. If it was a handicap Zatara Magic would be giving 3kg to Global Ally but is only giving him 1.5kg.

Global Ally did beat Zatara Magic by 0.50 lengths back in November but that rival turned the tables on him a month later.

There should not be much between them but perhaps Greeff’s runner is the more consistent.

Puerto Plata runs in a MR 90 Handicap over 2200m and the Argentinian-bred gelding looks well weighted to score his third victory in the Eastern Cape and his first on the Polytrack.

It is not that he is uncomfortable on the surface as he has had two runner-up spots on the poly behind Harold The Duke and Catch The Tune.

Interestingly both of those rivals are carded to take him on again but Puerto Plata is now 4kg better off with Harold The Duke for a neck defeat and has a 2.5kg pull against Catch The Tune for a two-length loss.

With just 55.5kg on his back Puerto Manzano looks primed to get back on a winning track.

Can’t Say No looked good winning back-to-back in April and May and although she has struggled a bit since then she has cracked No 1 draw and should get the run of Race 7, a Classified Stakes over 1300m.

Jack Milner’s selections

Race 1: 2 Vintage Crystal, 4 Beijing Boulevard, 1 Elusive Mata, 7 Elegant Appeal

Race 2: 3 Home Reef, 2 Mayor Of Merrivale, 1 Erimitage, 5 Donny’s Boy

Race 3: 5 Amazing Colours, 2 Back For More, 1 As Fate Has It, 3 Lady Luck

Race 4: 6 Crimson Comet, 3 Island Master, 1 Lord Capulet, 5 Take A Mulligan

Race 5: 2 Global Ally, 1 Zatara Magic, 5 No Place Like Home, 7 Euphoric

Race 6: 9 Puerto Plata, 1 Catch The Tune, 8 Harold The Duke, 2 Painite

Race 7: 6 Can’t Say No, 8 Sweet And True, 2 Pashtunwali, 3 Coastal Path

Race 8: 6 Cruzador, 5 Irontail, 3 Arturo, 2 Mr Bodacious

BEST BET

Race 1 No 2 Vintage Crystal

VALUE BET

Race 8 No 6 Cruzador

BEST SWINGER

Race 5 1×2

BIPOT

R96

Leg 1: 2

Leg 2: 1, 2, 3, 5

Leg 3: 2, 5

Leg 4: 3, 6

Leg 5: 1, 2

Leg 6: 1, 8, 9

PLACE ACCUMULATOR

R288

Leg 1: 1, 2, 3

Leg 2: 2, 5

Leg 3: 3, 6

Leg 4: 2

Leg 5: 1, 8, 9

Leg 6: 6, 8

Leg 7: 2, 3, 5, 6

PICK 6

R2304

Leg 1: 1, 2, 5

Leg 2: 1, 3, 5, 6

Leg 3: 1, 2

Leg 4: 1, 2, 8, 9

Leg 5: 2, 3, 6, 8

Leg 6: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8

JACKPOT 1

R128

Leg 1: 1, 3, 5, 6

Leg 2: 1, 2

Leg 3: 1, 2, 8, 9

Leg 4: 2, 3, 6, 8

JACKPOT 2

R192

Leg 1: 1, 2

Leg 2: 1, 2, 8, 9

Leg 3: 2, 3, 6, 8

Leg 4: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8

Donovan Dillon after winning on Brok Cafe on November 19. (Picture: via meta)

Donovan Dillon has made a welcome return to the winner’s enclosure in Australia after being out for a long time due to a serious injury.

He said in February this year that his absence from race-riding since October 2023 had been due to a horse kicking him in the thigh and tearing the muscle off the bone.

He added at the time,  “It has been a crazy ride since we’ve been here. I’m not racing as much as I used to, small yard but massive name that we are behind (Arrowfield Stud). We have a couple of months left before we can apply for permanent residency and once that happens I think things open up a lot more and we will have a lot more freedom. I will obviously still work for Arrowfield in the mornings, but I will be looking to ride in races seven times a week. I’m trying to get my weight right down to a natural 54 to 55kg so I can freelance and race all day everyday. I have put it in my sights that I want to go for the title in 2024/2025. I do think I can accomplish that with the racing I’ve had here already.”

He made his comeback on July 29.

However, he is still awaiting his permanent reisdency and has only had five rides in all this year, including winning on the Paul Messara & Leah Gavranich-trained Mikki Isle filly Brok Cafe in a 1300m event at Scone last week on Monday.

Donovan extracted a strong finish from Brok Cafe from last place in a small five horse field to get up in the final couple of strides. He is now three from three on Brok Cafe.

In Donovan’s first season in Australia (2022/2023) he had 9 wins at a strike rate of 33.3% and he had a place strike rate of 70.4%.

The talented former KZN Champion Apprentice and South African Jockey Academy headboy will be a rider to follow once he gets that long awaited permanent residency.

His wife Tayla has been doing very well working for a neighbouring stud farm to Arrowfield called Ridgmont, which is not related in anyway to the South African Ridgemont.

Louie The Legend and Dapper Gee Gee finish one-two in a Chepstow maiden (Picture: via meta)

Dylan Cunha continues to make waves in the U.K. and after a good third in a big handicap at York last week with his Brocklesby-winning two-year-old Sensorium, he scored an exacta in a seven furlong maiden for two-year-olds at Chepstow today (Monday) with two cheap buys, one of whom was making his debut.

The Make Believe colt Louie The Legend was bought at the Tattersalls September Sale for £8,000 and went off at 7/2 today in a 16 horse field on the turf, having finished fourth and second respectively in two previous seven furlong events on the Newcastle and Chelmsford All Weather tracks.

The Ardad colt Dapper Gee Gee was bought at the Tattersalls December foal Sale for £15,000 in 2022 and then for £16,000 at the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale last year. However, he was unsold at the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up Sale this year, before apparently being purchased into the Cunha yard for a mere £3,000.

Louie The Legend was backed in from an opening call of 5/1.

He was prominent early and led narrowly three furlongs out. He was then pushed along and hung left under pressure two furlongs out. However, he kept on well to win by three-qarters of a length under Ray Dawson.

Dapper Gee Gee opened at 28/1 before touching 20/1 and starting at 22/1.

He was midfield in the running before making headway over two furlongs out. He pressed the leaders a furlong out and went second in the final 110 yards and then ran on under George Wood. He should be in the winner’s enclosure soon.

Cunha has now had 39 wins in all in the U.K., having started out with two horses about two years ago.